12. CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SASHA
Z eke locked the door before I even had a chance to escape. I pulled on the handle and tried to open the car but it was no use. I was in panic mode. My fight or flight kicked in. “Where’s Nick?” I yelled and turned to face him. “What did you do to him?”
“You don’t need to worry about him anymore.”
But I did worry. I scolded myself for not trusting Nick. It was clearer that Zeke was the one I shouldn’t put my trust in. “Where is he?” I punched him on the arm. “Did you hurt him? Did you kill him?” No matter how many times I hit Zeke, he took it like I was splashing water gently on his body. It didn’t affect him one bit.
He laughed, then pushed the handbrake down before slamming his foot on the accelerator.
I looked around the warehouse as we drove through but I couldn’t see signs of Nick. It made me wonder what the hell Zeke was capable of doing.
Zeke’s fists curled around the steering wheel and he finally spoke when we cleared the warehouse, “I know you’re scared, but you need to think clearly. I’m not your enemy here.”
He was Nick’s enemy for sure. Whatever trust I had for Zeke slowly disappeared. I tucked my arms around my waist and my body trembled. “I should have run away from you when I had the chance.”
“You know what, Sasha?” Zeke switched gears and quickly glanced at me before looking at the road we now found ourselves on. “I’m not trying to scare you, sweetheart, but if you run away from me, you’ll just be hunted down by one more person. And I’m good at what I do. I found you once; I can find you again.”
Well, it was settled then. He knew me the entire time and even searched for me. But why the hell didn’t he ever say anything to me since we met and why the fuck was he only saying something now?
The trees flung by as we continued the drive. My tears reflected against the tinted car window. I sobbed and my cheeks stained with the pain of uncertainty and fear.
Zeke had been in my life now for so long but I knew nothing about him. Now I was realizing that it had probably been a calculated decision by him.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To a motel,” he replied. “Then I’m going to leave you there and go back onto the cruise. I need to get a few things from my room.”
Everything I owned was in there. Photos of my mom, my ID, and passport. Also my wallet with some cash and my keycards. Zeke had destroyed my phone so I needed my little black book that had my contacts in there and that included my FBI contact as well as Reece and Alice’s number. Though I kinda knew theirs and Leo’s by heart.
“Do you need anything from yours?” Zeke asked.
I nodded and turned to him with puffy eyes, but he didn’t notice since his attention was on the road. “There’s a few things, yeah.”
“Write me a list of things when we get to the motel and I’ll grab it for you.”
“Thanks.”
“And where are you going to be while I do that?” he questioned.
I knew it was a test. Zeke was testing me. “In my room at the motel waiting for you.”
“Good.”
My feet throbbed now that they had a chance to relax in the car. It was nice to see sunlight again. We’d been in the forest shrouded by trees, but now we were bathing in heat. We must have trekked for quite a bit as we weren’t too far from the airport or city. It took about a forty-minute car ride and we were outside some outdated motel that was in serious need of renovations.
Zeke drove into the parking garage and it felt dark again like I was back in the forest. “We’re going to check in now.”
I was distracted by the garbage bin that was overfilled with trash in and around it. Zeke touched my shoulder and I turned to him. “What?”
“Sooner or later you’ll need to start trusting me… preferably sooner.”
“You haven’t given me a reason to.”
“I saved your life, didn’t I?”
“Why?” I croaked. “What reason would you have to save my life? Me. Lunara. The girl you knew but didn’t admit to knowing.”
“I told you I’ll tell you the truth when you’re open to hearing it.”
“I’m open.” I swung my arms wildly. “Look at me. I’m a damn open book.”
He brushed his knuckles against my cheek and I recoiled. “You’re an adorable damn open book, but you’re not ready.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Zeke opened the door and I had no choice but to get out of the car. He did a good job fixing the damn thing and I was grateful to be out of that place.
There was a set of stairs opposite the trash that led to the first-floor reception. The yellow tiles were cracked and dirty, and the white paint on the walls was stained yellow and brown. The reception desk was small and had a girl behind the plastic panel. It smelled like mold and cigarettes.
Zeke pushed the bell and the girl looked up at us over the book she had opened. “Yes?”
“We need a room with two double beds.”
“All our doubles are booked.”
“Okay, then we’ll take one double bed.”
“That’ll be R$246 Reais.”
Zeke pulled out the exact cash from the back of his pants. How the hell did the notes not fall out of him mid-air? Unless he had it in the backpack or something this whole time.
The lady took one of the keys and handed it over to Zeke with a smile. He turned to me and placed his hand on the small of my back. I felt my spine shiver at his touch. “Let’s go.”
We took the stairs up to room number four. It didn’t smell as bad as I assumed it was going to. Don’t get me wrong… it was no bunch of roses either.
“Sorry, the place is shit.”
“Are you kidding?” I tried to contain the burst of energy that suddenly shrouded me. “We’ve just spent time stranded in the woods. This is a Sheraton compared to that.”
A roach twice as big as the one in the cabin crawled past my foot and I screamed.
I stood corrected.
Zeke dumped his backpack onto the only bed in the room.
Just great.
“The ship’s not far from here; I’ll grab our things but you can’t come with me,” he said. “It’s the first place they’ll look for you.”
“Who’s they?” I raised my voice. There was a shift in the air and it was heavy with suspicion. “Who’s after me, Zeke?”
“I’ll explain everything when you’re ready.”
Blah. Blah. Blah. Ready. Ready. Ready. Damn asshole.
“Don’t open the door for anyone,” he barked. “I’ve got a key. Don’t leave the room. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t talk to anyone. Got it?”
“Yes. Got it.”
“I’m not joking, Sasha,” he seethed, baring his teeth. “Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.”
“Good,” he replied, toning his voice down a notch. “I’m going to clean up and have a shower. In the meantime, write down the list of things you need and I’ll take it with me.”
I found a pen and paper on the mahogany desk while Zeke cleaned the blood splatter, dirt, and mechanical oil off himself. He appeared out of the shower just as I finished the note.
“Okay, I’ll be back soon.”
I had no option but to wait for him. If there was any hope that I could run away, I needed everything I wrote on that list.
He couldn’t have left fast enough.
I sat on the bed and air blew past my lips before I sunk into the mattress. It was soft and contoured to my body. I felt like I was on fluffy clouds drifting away to sleep.
I wasn’t sure how long I was out for, but when I woke up I knew I couldn’t just sit inside the room. I needed to figure out how to warn my friends.
I got up off the bed and found the handset on the desk next to the paper and pen. There was no dial tone and no matter how many buttons I pressed, no one could hear me on the other side.
I followed the cable from the back of the phone to the wall and noticed it was cut. I decided to go downstairs to see if someone could help me and prayed that Zeke would forgive me for disobeying his strict orders.
The girl who helped Zeke before was no longer there. Instead, a man in his fifties appeared from behind a door and took her place. He wore black khaki shorts and a floral t-shirt which looked to be about three sizes too big.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m from room four,” I told him. “I don’t have money but I really need to make an international phone call. Is there any way I can use your phone please?”
“Sorry, darling, no can do.” His eyes were zoomed in on the newspaper in front of him. When he looked up at me he fixed himself in his seat and smiled. “Well, hello there.”
“Hi, I really need to use your phone.” I didn’t like to beg but for the chance to warn my friends, I would have done anything.
The man sucked the air between his teeth and grinned.
Well, almost anything. He must have been attracted to that I’ve just spent time in the woods after people tried to kill me, look.
I flashed him a disarming smile and his eyes twinkled. “Sure thing, sugar.”
He opened the till and gave me some loose change for the phone. I collected them up in my hands and turned to the area behind me. There were two phones but one had a sign that said Faulty. Not In Use. What was with the no working phones in this damn joint?
Using the change the perverted man was kind enough to give, I frantically dialed both Alice and Reece, but I had no luck. The phone rang out a few times. My trembling hands tried Leo next, and thankfully he hadn’t changed his number. I prayed to God he would answer.
It rang five times before he finally picked up. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank God! Leo, hi. It’s me,” I wailed. The man at the reception desk turned his head and I toned my voice down to a mere hush. “It’s Sasha.”
“Sasha, oh my god,” he greeted. He was always so bubbly and sweet. You could tell whenever Leo smiled even when you were thousands of miles away. “How are you?” He covered the handset on his phone and yelled out to Hudson. “Hey, babe. Sasha’s on the phone. Come say hi.”
“Leo, I’m sorry. I don’t have much time,” I told him. “I need you to send a message to Reece and Alice. I tried to call them but they didn’t answer.”
“What kind of message?”
“Tell them I’m being hunted,” I blurted out. There was no way to sugarcoat the news and I didn’t want them to be caught off guard. “Someone tried to kill me and they need to watch their backs.”
“Sasha, you’re scaring me.” His voice shook. “What’s going on?”
“Will you do that for me?”
“Of course, but what the hell is going on? Are you safe now?”
“Yes, but not sure for how much longer,” I said. “I need to go into hiding again. I might not be able to reach out for a while. Give my love to Alice, Reece, Hudson, and the kids. Bye.”
“Sasha, wait,” he called out but I hung up the phone.
I had done my part. I’d warned my friends. As much as I wanted to see them and keep them safe, they were on their own until I could figure out what to do next.
This familiar feeling consumed me and returned tenfold. It’s like my father was back in my life, cursing me, shouting at me, and forcing me to do something against my will.
As I turned to walk away, the bell above the door rang. Someone sauntered in and I almost fainted. I couldn’t believe who it was.
Oh my god.